Split the bill or pay for what you had?

elisebutt65

AS I'm at uni - we all go out sometimes as a large group - 15+. We usually tell the waitress at the beginning that we all want separate bills unless it's the All U can eat buffet at Big Wok (Brum)for £4.99 a head- lol.

I hate going halves, cos I don't drink usually - have a couple before I go out to save money.

bargainbetty

I get to travel a bit with business, and because the firm will pay for my meals (yay for DFW) I have found that when I meet up with friends for dinner somewhere, restaurants are usually willing to separate the bills between diners.

To be honest, if I had had the larger, more expensive meal, I would automatically put down the extra and state that my meal had cost more so I would pay for it. Cheeky !!!!!!.

lil_me

Depends who I am with and where, usually pay for what we have as if we go out in a group tends to be over 30 of us and I usually don't drink.

Murtle

.....if I ate out and my meal came out more, I would insist on paying more.

I've been out with friends and not drunk alcohol, and they've insisted on me paying less then them. I didn't mind paying equal share as I enjoy the time I spend with them, but it makes me very nice (wrong word) that they respect the fact they've spent heaps more and don't expect me to subsidise it.

....go for a re-match and ensure you get your wallet out first

ti1980

This happens so much that measures need to be taken to minimise the cost to yourself!
I think I'm pretty lucky with my friends as they are on the whole really considerate. We end up moaning about whether to leave a tip or not depending on the service.
What we used to do in the past was go to Nandos the chicken place as you place your own order and pay for your drinks at the counter so there is no faffing about with who ordered £10 worth of food and who ordered £15 worth. etc.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, I don't know what you guys think about leaving tips but even if the OP had pulled out a tenner first and said that 'that includes the tip' then the OP would still have been better off by a few quid!

I remember one time when me and about 6 of my friends went to a tapas style place. Each dish cost about £2.50-£5.00 and it was a place that you could take your own alcohol so it was only the food we were paying for at the time. When it came to the paying, everyone else was quite happy to just split it equally as we had broadly had the same amount of food and we all had shared dessert between us. One girl absolutely insisted that we just paid for what we had so even though she was the only one who wanted to do it that way, we went with that in the end and after faffing about getting the menus back and working out what everyone owed, it turned out that she had spent the most and I think it worked out that her share was about £3 more. Think she realised that day that sometimes its better to keep it zipped...

bikerqueen

I always grab the bill first and say "right, chuck in what you think you owe!" then I add up all the cash and nearly always it works out fine. I'm pregnant and not drinking so it does make a difference to me.

JAMIEDODGER

for the sake of a few £ i would go 50/50., but if any more than that then i would only pay my share

dinkylou

To your 'friend' I would say ' I'm sorry I'm at bit short at the moment and so I' just paying for what I had.'

That way it doesnt look like you are being funny about it.

In a big group of friends or if I m not drinking etc then I normally just put in a little more that my meal cost. That way I've added in my bit for the tip but I'm not paying for others.

I usually try and be fairly vocal when the bill comes about who was drinking wine etc (not in a nasty way) and but I dont go dutch in a big group or it ruins the rest of my evening feeling resentful.

When I'm better off I will be more generous, until then, its just tough.

dudleyboy

yeah that is a tricky one. i tend to tally up the cost of my meal before i order so i know how much mine will come to. when the bill comes, if it's split equally... and the equal share is roughly what mine came to then i pay that... otherwise i suggest we all chip in what we think ours came to and then we make up the rest between us or leave surplus as extra tip.

it's difficult because you don't want to come across as being too tight / penny pinching when you're out for a meal and the bill comes... but nor should you have to supplement someone else... and you'll always find it's the people who KNOW they've eaten the most (expensive) who make the decision to split equally - just as your friend did.

I don't see why it should go unchallenged... tho fortunately most of my friends are pretty fair.

susie76

I think it depends on the situaion. For a lunch bill like yours, for two, i'd definitely go for the pay for what you had option, and i would just say actually mate, i think yours came to £17. If you have friends you regularly eat out with (unlikely as we are all on the DFW forum!), then spliting the bill is fine, as you win some, you lose some. I work as a restaurant manager, and if i'm honest i do hate seeing people quible over exactly what they ate. If you go for a meal and know that you aren't drinking, i think it is fair enough to say that you want to pay a bit less - if i am out and a friend doesn't drink, i'd offer that anyway.